Last minute Easter plans: Cobham Nature Reserve

The original plan was to go to Splashy Fen Music Festival, something we’d still like to do in the future. But for now we’re keeping things cheap and attempting to save for our trip to Madagascar later this year. The Easter holiday was coming up in a hurry and we suddenly realized that ‘Splashy’ was going to cost us more than what we had anticipated. So we had to change our plans and go somewhere cheaper! But where do you find a place to go to at such late notice, only days before the Easter Rabbit would be doing his rounds?

Well it’s quite obvious. You go to a place that not everyone wants to go to. Our good friends kindly invited us to join them for a weekend of camping in the beautiful Cobham Nature Reserve in the Southern Drakensberg. There will be no electricity, they said. And the showers may be temperamental, possibly ice cold and bring warm clothes because the weather forecast says ‘rain.’

“It always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent.” ― Dave Barry

Of course we were in – it would be our Easter adventure and it was only R80 per person per night, an absolute bargain! The deciding factor would not be the ‘lack’ of an electric kettle but to be in a beautiful place, close up to nature and away from bustling over crowded Easter destinations with electrical points!

Also, we knew who we were camping with! Which brings me to another point: Choose your camping buddies carefully. Like we did. Our friends came with caravans, industrial sized gas cookers, generators, glammed up camping trailers and enough wood to keep a small city warm. And not to forget the camping side tables for our drinks. (Camping chairs with cup holders are so 2016!) Suddenly camping in Cobham was in danger of becoming ‘glamping’ and we were not complaining!

As we do, we pulled into the campsite just as the sun was going down. We set up our non-waterproof dome tent and unpacked our elementary camping kit, our flimsy mattresses and our kid-sized summer sleeping bags on the coldest weekend this year so far. We peered out of our little tent, with trailers and caravans towering above us and drizzle and thick mist blowing in. Shivering and verging on hypothermia, we bravely exited the tent. Layered with every item of clothing we had, we waddled out like a family of Oros men and went in the direction of warmth. There we joined our friends who passed us beer and wine as we stood huddled and as close as we could possibly get to the blazing bonfire without catching fire! It was then that I learned the true meaning of ‘friends with benefits.’ Always camp with friends who have more camping equipment than you! Especially in Cobham.

“Mom, camping is not a date; it’s an endurance test. If you can survive camping with someone, you should marry them on the way home.” ― Yvonne Prinz, The Vinyl Princess

Weather aside, the weekend flew by. We walked, we talked, we laughed plenty and some of the less sane people in our group swam. Though I will admit that the spectacular sight of deep Cobham turquoise pools could probably tempt a cat into taking a dip!

Easter soon arrived and if you woke early, you’d have been surprised by how many Easter rabbits were operating in the Cobham campsite, eyeing the other campers out suspiciously. Where could they hide their stash of chocolate Lindt eggs that would be safely out of sight from the neighbours ‘eagle-eyed’ chocolate spotting brood?

As you can imagine, the Easter egg hunt started especially early this year, in fact the sun had barely risen. Suddenly the campsite was carnage; wild, wide-eyed kids ran in all directions, crossing tent peg boundaries, raiding other territories and hiding their ‘stash’ from potential chocolate thieving enemies like their lives depended on it. Anxious, Lindt-guarding parents, speaking in code and attempting to convince the frenzied kids that ‘this year,’ the bunny operated in well-marked zones, silently vowing that 2017 would be the last year they’d ever spend 100 bucks on a chocolate egg.

“What on earth would I do if four bears came into my camp? Why, I would die of course. Literally shit myself lifeless.” ― Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

As camping so faithfully does, beautiful memories were made. Despite the brutally cold nights, the days would soon warm; starting with a new fire and staring into its flames whilst waiting for the water to boil. Sipping on a hot smoky tin cup of coffee and dunking a home-made rusk…camping in Cobham may be basic, but the special memories made were unforgettable.

“I must pack my short life full of interesting events and creative activity. Philosophy and aesthetic contemplation are not enough. I intend to do everything possible to broaden my experiences and allow myself to reach the fullest development. Then, and before physical deterioration obtrudes, I shall go on some last wilderness trip to a place I have known and loved. I shall not return.” ― Everett Ruess, Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty

Just beautiful! I would choose somewhere like that over a more popular and busy place anytime. Funny thing is my parents live in a place called Cobham in Surrey in the UK and while it’s pretty and picturesque it’s nothing compared to that glorious landscape!!

Thank you Sarah 🙂 I was googling Cobham before we went to the South African Cobham and learned about the town your parents live in for the first time! This trip was fantastic! Definitely will be braving another trip…in Summer though!

Oh cool 🙂 It’s a pretty place and only a short drive from my own village! In old English the ham comes from hamlet (village) and cob is actually from Cove (rather than being a swan) so the name describes it as being the village in the curve of the river, which it is! Is there a curving river in the SA Cobham? I couldn’t find much about it on Wikipedia.

About Lianne

Lianne Ashton is a photographer based in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She started this blog in 2012 when living in central Mozambique on a sugar estate. Since then she has lived in Malawi and is now back on her childhood farm in South Africa.

Here she shares with you her experiences of living in Africa, the incredible people she meets and the places she goes to. This is a journey into the Africa she knows.

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Copyright

All content in this blog created by the blog owner Lianne Ashton is the property of the blog owner and protected by South African and international copyright laws and cannot be stored on any retrieval system, reproduced, displayed, modified or transmitted in any form, electronic or otherwise without written permission of the copyright owner. Any unauthorised use of the Africa far and wide blog’s material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.